The Aspen Institute recently announced the inaugural class of Aspen Index Impact Fellows. Among the elite group of more than 90 professionals and youth selected are our own Vice President of Student Life José-Luis Riera and Assistant Vice President of Student Experience and Belonging Nicole Long.

Founded in 1949, the Aspen Institute is a global nonprofit organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with a campus in Aspen, Colorado and an international network of partners. The institute created the Aspen Index, a digital assessment tool, to measure leadership capacities in order to increase personal and professional growth using peer-reviewed empirical research for benchmarking across diverse demographic groups and experiences.

The Aspen Index Impact Fellows are comprised of college presidents, senior leaders, educators and youth from across the country. These fellows will work together to develop, optimize and beta-test the Aspen Index. Riera was named a Senior Impact Fellow and Long was named an Impact Fellow, representing both tiers of the professional system.

According to the Aspen Institute press release, the goal of the fellows is to "advance an urgent agenda focused on the research, interventions and strategies necessary to accelerate the access to, and quality of, youth leadership programs nationally. The goal of this initiative is to lift youth exposure to high-quality leadership programs above 50 percent over the next five years."

Congratulations to our talented Student Life staff on making the cut!